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SAN ANTONIO - Saying that Texas' child-protection safety net has become dangerously frayed, Gov. Rick Perry on Thursday called for spending nearly $330 million to hire about 800 new investigators and to drastically cut the workloads and boost the pay of caseworkers. "This reform plan calls for significantly lower caseloads, better use of technology to assist workers in the field and a complete restructuring of the agency," Perry said in a San Antonio courtroom where he unveiled his much-anticipated proposal for overhauling the state's Child Protective Services division. "And most importantly, it provides a new framework to better protect vulnerable...

Gov. Rick Perry this morning announced state Rep. Elizabeth Ames Jones of San Antonio as his pick to replace Charles Matthews on the Texas Railroad Commission. Matthews last week was named chancellor of the Texas State University System, and Jones' appointment will be pending his resignation from the Railroad Commission. Jones, a Republican, was elected to the House in 2000. She has served on the Energy Resources and the Appropriations committees and is vice chairwoman of the Texas House Republican Caucus. The three-member Railroad Commission's primary job is overseeing Texas' oil and gas industry. The process for replacing Jones in...

Today's column is a primer on the language of Texas politics, a guide to understanding the words of two state Republican leaders who are millions of miles apart in their views — and billions of dollars apart in their math. I affectionately refer to Gov. Rick Perry and Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn, who are smiling before cameras, expressing concern for Texans and trying to club each other to political death at the same time. This, of course, is known as Running For Governor. When Strayhorn isn't boasting about her latest budget projections, she's holding a news conference to whack Perry...

Abortion foes tap governor Web Posted: 01/15/2005 12:00 AM CST Peggy Fikac Chief, Express-News Austin bureau AUSTIN — Gov. Rick Perry, who may face a re-election challenge from within his party next year, plans to headline a Capitol rally next weekend on an issue of importance to GOP primary voters — abortion. "Join pro-life Texas Gov. Rick Perry!" says a Web posting by the Texas Alliance for Life touting next Saturday's Texas Rally for Life. "We've been putting it (the rally) on for about 15 years. This is the first time a governor has appeared. We're just ecstatic about that,"...

Governor Perry is getting his right-wing ducks in a row Since Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison crafted Thanksgiving legislation allowing her Senatorial dollars to behave like Gubernatorial dollars, thereby removing the campaign finance impediment that would have forced her to make her speculative run for Texas Governor in 2006 without the benefit of her $6.7 million federal war chest, a flurry of activity has ensued. (Amongst this whirlwind was our reporting of this legislative self-assistance, the amount of money made available by her for her, and an analysis of the tentative three way race between the Senator, Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn...

Ever wanted to own a toll road? How about one with 85 mile-per-hour speed limits alongside a congested interstate -- one where you had exclusive rights to sell food, gas and lodging? You can buy all that and more if you've got a few billion dollars and can convince the Texas Transportation Commission to let you build the Trans-Texas Corridor. In 2002, Governor Rick Perry campaigned on a promise of a privately financed and operated toll road system -- 4,000 miles to be built over the next 50 years. The cost is estimated at $180 billion. Few within the transportation...

Anti-abortion rally at Capitol marks anniversary of Roe v. Wade AUSTIN - Republican Gov. Rick Perry reaffirmed his anti-abortion stance Saturday and, in a stark disagreement with potential rival Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, said he doesn't support embryonic stem cell research."As long as I am the governor of this great state, I will oppose any taxpayer dollars being used and spent on research that ends a human life," Perry said.Hutchison, a Republican who is considering a run for governor next year, said last month that state leaders should develop a stem-cell research policy that keeps Texas from being "left in...

Democrats question GOP fund-raising Perry says soliciting for Railroad Commission nominee is proper. By Mike Ward AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF Saturday, January 22, 2005 Democrats on Friday criticized Gov. Rick Perry and Republicans for raising money for Railroad Commission nominee Elizabeth Ames Jones while the legislative session is under way. They also questioned whether a Perry aide is benefiting from the efforts through the actions of her husband. Republicans disputed the criticism, insisting that fund-raisers for Jones, who was elected to the House but didn't take office, do not violate a state law prohibiting campaign fund raising by officeholders during the session...

Traffic: Can't live with it; can't live without it. That's the dilemma Dallas leaders face as they survey the proposed Trans-Texas Corridor, Gov. Rick Perry's plan for a new network of highways crisscrossing the state to be built as toll roads by private companies. Dallas' interstates are choked with traffic, but if Mr. Perry diverts that traffic – especially the long-haul commercial trucks – beyond the city limits, he will siphon off the city's economic lifeblood. No wonder city leaders are squawking over preliminary maps that show the new corridor being located as far as 50 miles from Dallas' doorstep....

Bonilla says he'll seek Hutchison's job, if she leaves Associated Press LUBBOCK (AP) — U.S. Rep. Henry Bonilla said Tuesday he would seek Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison's job if she decides to leave office. Bonilla, R-San Antonio, made the announcement from Washington during telephone interviews with Lubbock radio stations. Bonilla, 50, has represented the 23rd District, which includes most of West Texas, for more than a decade. Hutchison is widely believed to be considering a challenge to Gov. Rick Perry in 2006. Both are Republicans. A Hutchison spokesman had no immediate comment. "If she makes a decision on her own...

January 26, 2005 Texas Gov. Rick Perry's State–of–the–State Address [Address can be found here.] (NOTE: Gov. Perry frequently deviates from prepared text.) Thank you. Statewide officials and members of the judiciary, members of the Legislature and distinguished guests, friends and fellow Texans: I am honored to uphold our constitutional tradition and speak to you today on the state of our state. As always, we are joined on this occasion by distinguished friends and neighbors. Please join me in welcoming Governor Eugenio Hernandez Flores of Tamaulipas. And please join me in recognizing two distinguished guests from Canada, Premier Gary Doer...

AUSTIN — Elizabeth Ames Jones, the former state representative from San Antonio, was formally nominated by Gov. Perry on Tuesday to the 3-member Texas Railroad Commission. Jones, a Republican, still needs to go before the Senate for confirmation. She declined to be sworn in to her House seat last month, after Perry announced she was his pick to replace Charles Matthews. Vying to fill Jones' 121st District seat in Saturday's special election are former Texas Supreme Court Judge Rose Spector, a Democrat; businessman Joe Straus III, a Republican; and former state Rep. Paul Silber, who is running as an independent....

At a time when the need for new highway capacity greatly exceeds traditional sources of revenue, toll revenue financing is attracting increased attention. Issuing bonds secured by toll revenue gives state and local authorities the ability to accelerate road construction and undertake new projects that might otherwise take years to implement if they were to depend on funding from state and federal gasoline taxes. Nowhere is this philosophy more evident than in the state of Texas. The Texas legislature has declined to raise the gas tax. Instead, in June 2003, it passed landmark legislation (HB 3588) providing an arsenal of...

AUSTIN - In what sounds like another tall tale told by a Texan, the Lone Star State has embarked on an audacious project to build superhighways so big, so complex, that they will make ordinary interstates look like cow paths. The Trans-Texas Corridor project, as envisioned by Republican Gov. Rick Perry in 2002, would be a 4,000-mile transportation network costing $175 billion over 50 years, financed mostly if not entirely with private money. The builders would charge motorists tolls. But these would not be mere highways. They would be megahighways -- corridors up to a quarter-mile across, consisting of as...

A company selected to build a toll road from Dallas-Fort Worth to San Antonio has a reputation for aggressively collecting money from motorists, treating customers poorly and frequently raising tolls without public input. Those are among the complaints lodged against Cintra -- selected in December to build the first leg of the Trans-Texas Corridor -- by motorists on the company's toll roads in Toronto and Chicago. Across North America, private companies such as Cintra are spending billions of dollars to build roads in exchange for the right to collect tolls for 50 to 100 years -- relieving taxpayers of the...

The next meeting concerning the Trans-Texas Corridor has been set for 5-8 p.m. Feb. 10 at the Gainesville Civic Center. Officials have set forth the corridor as a way to alleviate traffic on the state's major highways by building a system of highways, railroads and utilities that stretch about 1,200-feet wide. Such a corridor also would bypass major metropolitan areas of Dallas, Austin, San Antonio and Houston. From Feb. 7 through March 31, Texas Department of Transportation officials plan to have 47 meetings throughout the Interstate 35 corridor area, which covers 800 miles in length and 77 counties, according to...

The time to speak out and ask questions about the Trans Texas Corridor is near. Residents in Caldwell and Guadalupe counties will get a better understanding of potential impacts to their land usage and future tax revenues next month during Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) public meetings concerning the proposed corridor. The corridor, as envisioned, would consist of a network of brand-new "transportation routes" that would carry passenger vehicles and large trucks in separate lanes and also provide for railway freight, high-speed commuter rail and "infrastructure" for utilities including water, oil, gas, electricity, broadband and "other telecommunications services," TxDOT says....

The Trans-Texas Corridor plan outlines a new vision for transportation in Texas. This proposed multi-use, statewide network of transportation routes will make driving safer, send hazardous cargo around populated areas, and sustain and enhance economic development. (Excerpt from website contents)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE December 16, 2004 AUSTIN —Taking an historic step, the Texas Transportation Commission today selected a proposal by Cintra — an international group of engineering, construction and financial firms — as the best value for the state in developing the Oklahoma-to-Mexico portion of the Trans-Texas Corridor (TTC-35). Cintra proposes to invest $6 billion in a toll road between Dallas and San Antonio by 2010, give the state $1.2 billion for additional transportation improvements between Oklahoma and Mexico, and to extend the corridor into the Lower Rio Grande Valley to Mexico. "This is an historic change in the way...

CORRIDORWATCH.org WELCOMES MEMBERS FROM 100 COUNTIES! ==================================================== HAVE YOU HEARD THE NEWS? WINNER: CINTRA; LOSER: ALL TEXANS On Thursday, December 16, 2004, our Transportation Commission approved a proposal offered by Cintra Concesiones de Infraestructuras de Transporte (Cintra). Cintra has proposed constructing 316-miles of four-lane toll roads from near Dallas to near San Antonio roughly paralleling IH-35 (although not anywhere near the Interstate). Cintra offers to pay the entire $6 billion development cost, plus give TxDOT another $1.2 billion to provide connections to the TTC-35 toll roads. The complete terms of the proposal are however SECRET and will not be available...